Just One Yesterday
by Little-Angry-Kitten
Summary: Its one has date and time on its front page, it must be opened at that precise day and hour. No sooner, no later!


**A/N: So this whole series started basically from an AU idea I had and posted it on Tumblr and then it got popular and then I had to write it. You have to read "The Boy &amp; The Wolf" first or else this won't make any sense. Tittle was taken from Fall out Boy's song 'Just One Yesterday".**

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**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

"I'm not sure it can even work, Leo." She murmured rubbing a hand over her face. They've been over this quite a few times but it looked like Rose couldn't get it out of his mind.

She wasn't really in the mood for this argument today, sometimes she hated doing PR work for Torchwood. Lately UNIT had been getting careless about keeping the extraterrestrial a secret, meaning Torchwood -and by default Rose- were pretty much left to deal with the clean up ninety nine percent of the time.

"But what if it can?" He insisted inspecting the device closer.

To a normal human it looked just like a high tech watch but to them? To them it was a device that had saved many of them through the years. If only Mickey hadn't burned out the Vortex Manipulator the last time they used it. Not that Rose encouraged what Leo wanted to do, the Doctor was never a fan of messing around with time. One never knew how many things could change with just a simple gesture.

"I don't want to know!" She bite out forcefully. "You are not the only one with a dark past. First I lost the Doctor and then one of the few people I could call friends! Ward was my best friend too and I miss him! But I've never even thought of doing something so selfish!" She said slamming her hand against his desk. Fitz jumped a little in his chair and met her eyes. Rose had never been so harsh with him, or anyone else for that matter. Seeing her like that took him by surprise.

"Rose." He murmured taking her hand in his. "This might or might not work, I know that. Please, just please let me try. If there was a possibility to bring any of them back you would take it, wouldn't you? You already did it once! Just let me try it."

He was right, she did it once before. She went looking for the Doctor but that was only because they were all in danger. Because without him every single universe in existence was bound to disappear. She didn't want to tell him how painful that was though. That just because she found the Doctor doesn't mean she stayed with him. No, she spend a few hours with him and then she was forced to go back to her reality; alone.

"You have two hours to return it back to the safe before I report you to my father." Her eyes turned cold as she twisted on her heels and made her way towards the door. "That's an order Agent Fitz." She threw over her shoulder, her voice laced with authority and then she was gone.

**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

Fitz could pin point when their lives took a turn for the worst. It was approximately the moment Ward decided to betray them. He blamed him for a while, until Fitz decided to take a look at Ward's file and learned what really went down with his friend. All the abuse from his family and after that from Garrett. Leo saw the medical files, it didn't take a genius to see all the broken bones, the bullet wounds, the marks they left behind.

That being said Leo did not pardoned what Ward did. He had a chance to make it all right, to come clean. Coulson would have helped him. It took him a while to realise that Shield never gave Ward the choice to do so and neither would Coulson.

Fitz had found out that the hard way, Shield cared only for assets; never for liabilities and Fitz was just that. Much like Ward would be if they ever cared to find out anything about him. The team was never the same after he was gone though, they tried to, but it was hard to be a family without Ward.

They fell apart slowly.

First came the decay of his relationship with Jemma. He wasn't particularly easy to live with after he woke up from the coma. The memory loss, forgetting things, not being able to speak properly or messing his words up had put a strain on their communication.

She had tried, Jemma had tried very hard to be by his side but he pushed her away. He needed to do this by himself, for the first time in years he needed to do something without anyone's help. Thankfully though where Fitz failed Jemma Agent Triplett did not. They were together now and she was quite happy. That's all that mattered to him.

Then they had to deal with Skye, her past and the fact that she was losing herself without Ward too. They never talked about him but everyone could see it, Ward had betrayed them of course; that didn't mean that Skye wasn't in love with him and didn't hurt every single second away from him. But Skye was Skye and she refused to acknowledge even her feelings.

It wasn't until a few months after Rose and Ward had stopped their sessions that Coulson demanded he came back to the team. Skye was taken by Raina and they needed help to get her back. Coulson was so sure of himself and his operation.

Things went south as soon as they stepped inside the Hydra base and by the end of it Ward was bleeding out on the cold cell Skye was held captive. Fitz will never forget the sound of Skye's screams in his ears when they told her what happened. The way she cried for the man that saved her life, the man she thought she didn't love.

That was the moment Leo decided to take Rose's offer and return home too. There was nothing to hold him back anymore, the love of his life was with someone else, the organisation he swore to serve until his dying breath was something new and foreign to him now, and the one person that he saw as a brother (even though he betrayed him) was dead.

Torchwood picked him up as soon as he set foot in London. Working with Rose and her team was something new, something better. He was in a familiar place, surrounded by people he could trust; working under rules that fit better his beliefs. He got the help he needed and no one around him asked from him more than what Fitz could give.

He strapped the manipulator to his wrist and pocketed the small notepad he had everything written. Fitz was careful to set a timeline to their whole lives, he shouldn't risk more than it was necessary. His breath whizzed out as he entered the first date into the device.

_'Here goes nothing.' He thought. _

**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

Linda felt the starts of a headache forming as she stepped inside her flat. There was something suspicious going on in Shield but no one else seemed to notice it. It bothered her, she told Richard about it but he shut her down insisting that there was no way Shield had been infiltrated, they had eliminated any threat possible.

Still though something wasn't right, she could see it in the way some agents moved and talked. Like they didn't want to be a part of Shield but they _had _to. It made her feel uneasy.

"Hello, Agent Avery." Linda reached for her gun as soon as the smooth male voice reached her.

"How did you get in here?" She asked harshly as the blonde man with the curly hair stepped out of the dark corner he was hiding.

"Not the point." He said shaking his head. "We need to talk."

"Are you serious?" She hissed as she walked closer to him, gun still pointed at his head and ready to fire. "You break into my house, scaring the crap out of me and then you want to talk?" Her voice rose a little at the end but she schooled herself before the stranger could caught up on how shaken up she was.

"I assure you I'm a friend." He took the few remaining steps and softly pushed her gun down. "I'm here because you need my help."

"I need your help?" She asked incredulously.

"You do." Fitz confirmed with a firm nod. "Could we please sit down for a bit so I can explain?" He asked and against her better judgement Linda put her gun away and led them to the couch.

"Five minutes." She said and Fitz didn't waste a second, explaining to her as much as he could without revealing too much.

"In three weeks you're going on a mission. All I'm asking from you is to hand the 084 you'll find to Agent May and Agent Coulson." Linda was familiar with the names, they belonged to two of the most famous people within the organisation even though they were out of the academy only two years earlier than her and Richard.

"Melinda May is in no position to take care of an 084 no matter what it is." She shook her head. Linda wasn't sure what happened in Bahrain six months ago but she could tell it was something bad just by looking at the other woman's eyes.

"Trust me, she and Coulson can pull it off just fine." He said seriously. "There's too much depending on this Agent Avery, you swore to serve and protect. That's all I'm asking you to do!"

**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

Time travelling he discovered was messy. If you didn't have the dates right you could end up taking tea with the Queen. Fitz barely got out of getting engaged to Marilyn Monroe when he had entered the wrong date on the Manipulator. As soon as his feet hit the ground Fitz bend over and retched his dinner all over a poor bush. On the bright side, this could be a funny story later. Much, much later.

He felt a little wobbly but he guessed traveling through time could do that to you, if he traveled at all this time of course. Just because he pulled it off once didn't mean it would keep happening. He took a moment to calm himself down and then inspected his surroundings. A few feet away from where he stood he could see a mansion with tall trees guarding it. His eyes scanned for any signs of life again and again but it seemed like the place was empty.

"Who are you?" Leo jumped a little and he looked down catching sight of the young child. He couldn't be more than eight but relatively tall for his age and very thin, Fitz noticed.

"I could ask you the same." Fitz said and turned to face the familiar face fully. He could see Ward's futures on the boy, it wasn't his best friend quite yet but he was getting there. His eyes for example didn't change at all, they were as golden as Fitz remembered them.

"I'm Grant." The boy offered his hand and Leo shook it.

"I'm-" He caught himself before he could give his real name. Never give your real name when you are interfering with time. You never know what you might change. "I'm Smith. John Smith." One of his conversations with Rose came rushing back about most common names and he blurted out the alias the Doctor liked to use. Grant eyed him carefully for a while, as if he was deciding if Fitz could be trusted or not.

After what felt like years the younger Grant Ward shrugged, it looked like he believed him.

**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

Fitz took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart. He had walked those hallways many times before, Shield was home to him longer than his actual family house. Fitz was twelve when his mother send him here, this was the family he knew, the family that was taken from him so violently.

He had stayed with Ward for almost three hours, they played cards (he still got beaten) and Ward told him about his family. It was one thing reading about it and a whole other one hearing it from Ward himself, a younger more fragile Ward. Fitz knew that he shouldn't interfere with it though.

This was a fixed point in time, Ward had to go through all this pain no matter how much it killed Fitz. He had grew up only with his mum but it was a happy life. He could still remember how she took care of him, with so much patience and love, Ward wasn't afforded the same courtesy though. The things he told to Fitz, no child should go through such abuse.

A small smile tagged at his lips as his eyes landed on the man bend over his desk. Fitz checked his watch only to see that it was a little over ten in the evening. He stepped into the room quietly and leaned against the far wall, taking in a younger Phil Coulson carefully. He had more hair that's for sure and less wrinkles but he was still the same man he remembered form the pre-Hydra days. Coulson still gave that teasing and cocking vibe Fitz loved so much. He was still uncorrupted by the evils within Shield.

"Won't your wife be mad you're still working?" Fitz teased and made his way towards Coulson's desk. His former boss seemed unfazed by his entrance though, never taking his eyes from his paperwork. Fitz guessed some things never changed, it felt kind of nice.

"Melinda is out of town." Coulson explained calmly.

"Shouldn't you be pointing a gun to my head by now?" Fitz sat down as Coulson finally met his gaze.

"Linda said you might show up." Coulson sat back against his chair, crossing his arms over his chest in that familiar way.

"Linda?"

"She told us about you when she dropped off Skye. Just a few days before she was killed." Fitz nodded sadly, he wished he could have warned the younger agent but he couldn't risk their future.

"Skye, huh?" A small smile tagged the the side of Fitz's lips as he took one of the many photo frames in his hand. A younger Melinda May was looking back at him, carefree and laughing, with a dark haired toddler in her arms.

"Mel liked it." Coulson shrugged. "Thank you." He said after a while. "For bringing her into our lives." Coulson nodded towards the picture Fitz was holding. "I don't know who you are, but thank you!" Fitz didn't need anything else, he understood what his former boss meant.

"What I did for you wasn't for free, Agent Coulson." Fitz put the photo back to its place. "I need a favour."

"Anything." Coulson said firmly. He didn't know the man in front of him but Philip Coulson knew one thing, that man was the reason he had a family now. A family he wouldn't change for anything in the world.

"I know your love for helping people in need." Fitz looked him straight in the eye. "There's a sixteen year old boy up in Boston, he's the son of a Senator. I want you to get him and his siblings out of there before it's too late."

"When?" Coulson asked after a few minutes pondering Fitz's words.

"Six weeks." Coulson nodded in agreement. "There's a lot at stake, Agent Coulson." Fitz prompted. "You _must _save the boy."

"I'll try my best." Coulson assured him.

**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

"Bloody Jemma Simmons!" The sixteen year old boy's accent was thick as he spat the words. A younger Leopold Fitz was opening and closing drawers angrily as he stomped around the lab.

Fitz remembered that day clearly even so many years later. He and Jemma had an on going feud since they first attended the Academy, they were always at each other's throats arguing about anything and everything. Until the day one of their professors assigned them to a project together. To say that Sci-Ops was a battlefield would be an understatement.

That would last for six more hours if Fitz remembered correctly. It would eventually end with a pot of Jemma's special tea and a bunch of fresh cookies as a peace offering. The loud noises brought him out of his thoughts as Fitz eyed his younger self. There was no easy way to do this; he cleared his throat and waited, clinching into the files in his hand like a life line.

"Holy mother-" Past-Fitz let out a small scream as they came face to face. "She spiked my food with a hallucination drug again didn't she?" He accused as he put a hand over his racing heart.

"That is a very good prank idea, keep it for later." Fitz smiled and moved closer to the boy. "No, Jemma had nothing to do with this." He shook his head, there was no words to describe how much he had missed those carefree days. When his right hand actually worked and he could string ten words together without losing focus. It got better with time but Fitz never managed to be who he was before the pod incident.

"Who are you?" His past self asked finally. "I mean I know _who _you are but why are you here?"

"I had to drop these." Leo said dropping the files on top of a lab table. "You'll need them in the future. Its one has date and time on its front page, it must be opened at that precise day and hour. No sooner, no later! got it?" His past self nodded solemnly. "Follow the instructions carefully and never, ever involve anyone else on it. Do all those and trust me there's a much brighter future ahead of us then the one you're going to have if you don't listen to me."

"Yes but-"

"Just trust me!" Leo cut himself off. His turned on his heels quickly and made his way to the door fast. "Oh and _Leopold," _He said in a teasing voice as he threw a last look behind him. "Jemma Simmons is not so bad after all." He winked and pressed the button on the Manipulator that took him away.

**_~Just One Yesterday~ _**

"Fitz." Someone tried to pull his blanket back but Leo only pulled it back tighter around him. "Fitz!" The familiar voice scolded again and pulled again harder. It took his sleepy brain a few seconds to register where he was. "Oh my…" Jemma squealed as he jumped to his feet looking around wildly. "Have Lance spiked your coffee with drugs again?" She asked exasperated fussing over him.

"Lance- What- For the love of God let me take a breath, woman!" He finally said pushing her hands away gently. Fitz closed his eyes and focused for a moment, memories he didn't have before rushing back to him. "Quick question. Where are we?"

"At our flat?" Jemma said slowly.

"We live together?!" He exclaimed.

"Well we can't be married and living separately, now. Can we?" She held up her hand for him to see and sure enough there was an engagement ring and a wedding band around her finger.

"_You _married _me?"_

Jemma closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Four years ago! Seriously what did they gave you?!" She hissed and grabbed her phone typing angrily. "You know what? I don't have time for this! Grab your things Skye's in labour and we have to go to the hospital. Ward is driving everyone insane." She was gone before he could say anything.

Skye was in labour, Ward was driving everyone insane and apparently he had found someone named Lance to pull pranks together? That meant that it worked, right? Their lives weren't ruined anymore.

"Fitz!" Jemma sounded impatient and reached for him jacket quickly.

_It looked like he had made it after all. _


End file.
